LEGION BASEBALL: Stoughton facing two-year ban

Stoughton Post 89 is appealing a two-year ban from Legion baseball after forfeiting two games this season

Chris McDaniel cmcdaniel@wickedlocal.com @ChrisMcDaniel88

Stoughton Post 89, an American Legion baseball team in Zone 6, is facing a two-year ban from Senior Legion play after forfeiting two games this season.

Stoughton is currently appealing its first forfeit on June 27 against Holbrook Post 137 to the American Legion Baseball national appeals board after appeals to the Massachusetts Department Athletic Committee and District 6 were denied.

Stoughton also forfeited its game against Hyde Park Post 78 on June 30 due to a lack of players. This forfeit has not been appealed.

“The only thing that has been declared under review is the June 27 (Holbrook) game, which was declared a forfeit,” said Dick Paster, vice chairman of the department athletic committee.

Stoughton, which was playing with the minimum of nine players on June 27, was forced to forfeit to Holbrook after one of its nine players was injured during the course of play.

Under Legion baseball rules, teams cannot play with less than nine players.

“That’s the rules that were voted by the district if you forfeit twice,” said Roger Gagnon, Mass. Department Athletic Committee chairman. “When things come down to it, they didn’t have enough to play.

“Every team can have up to 18 players (on its roster), now I don’t know how many they had on the roster.”

If the national appeal is denied, all of Stoughton’s games for this season will be counted as forfeits and it will not be eligible to return to district play at the senior level until 2017.

Paster said he doesn’t expect a decision on the national appeal until next week.

Paster said he also serves as a secretary, webmaster and scorekeeper for District 6.

Paster said that after a senior team is banned, a junior Legion team must be up and running successfully for two years before the district will consider allowing the senior team to rejoin.

If the national appeal is denied, Post 89, which currently doesn’t have a junior Legion team, can apply to join the junior league as early as next year.